


Take Offense

by RedEris



Series: Mixed Gems [8]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-27 12:41:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6284929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedEris/pseuds/RedEris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the Tumblr prompt "Carver--Shields".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take Offense

Carver once thought that he ought to like shields. It was, after all, what he was meant to be, what he was born to be, the lesson repeated over and over as long as he could remember–don’t attract attention, always be aware, be alert, protect, protect. A shield protects.

They gave him a shield at Ostagar–they gave shields to everyone who could not already claim to be a master of the great-weapons. No call to take chances with an enemy whose very blood was corruption and death. And he tried, he really did. But he hated everything about it–hated the weight that slowed him down, hated the way it blocked his vision when he held it up high as they’d taught in drills, hated that he had to first get around his own damned shield to strike at his enemy. Long before the end, he had cast aside the despised thing and caught up a great sword from a fallen ally. In retrospect, he was certainly no master, but his sheer strength and ferocity created, for a while, an eddy in the unstoppable flood of the darkspawn.

A shield protects, but ultimately Carver realized that a sword does as well. As the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense, and Carver aims to be offensive.


End file.
